Love is For The Patient
by lermans
Summary: Joe moves to California without a word to begin production on the much anticipated fifth JONAS album, leaving Macy confused and feeling unsure of what to make of their seemingly stable relationship. Somewhat AU. R&R.
1. Phonecalls & Photographs

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the lyrics used in this fic, just the story itself.**

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_"I've been staying awake in the front seat for days  
Let the wheel turn and take me away  
Oh, the truth I must tell  
Is I'm lonely as hell  
Still looking for myself"_

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Joe can't help but toss and turn in his bed. The mattress is too hard and his bedding is too new, the warmth and worn fabric he's used to isn't there anymore. He listens to the sounds of the ocean outside his window and compulsively his arm reaches out, pushing it just slightly open, enough to get the sea breeze flowing through his room without being too cold. He inhales the fresh salty air and hums to himself, taking his glasses off the windowsill and placing them on his face before unplugging his phone from the charger, flipping through the contacts.

He really likes California. He loves the sun when it lingers on his skin in the morning, he loves wearing shorts in the winter and taking a morning jog along the coast. His favorite thing about it is the sunsets, the way the sun melts into the ocean and creates the most brilliant royal purple color that he's ever seen. He almost thinks it was created just for him.

But there are things Joe misses about New Jersey - the little things, things like snowball fights and the way summer is more like a blessing than an every day occurrence. He misses his family, he misses Stella Malone and her color-coordinated organizing of his closet, he misses his brothers even though they're moving into his place in a couple months. He aches to see the firehouse again and gorge himself on his mother's fried chicken, and sometimes he even misses getting grounded.

Mostly, he misses Macy Misa and the way she brought him sunshine when the rain fell.

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Macy is doing okay back home in New Jersey. She's all bundled up in her bed when her phone rings, and she wonders who the heck would be calling her at _two in the friggin'_ morning before she grabs it off her nightstand.

She can't help but shiver when she reads the name that's on the touch screen. They haven't spoken to each other in weeks, and she blinks a few times before she answers, her voice dry.

She doesn't know what to say, maybe_ 'Why the hell are you calling me at two in the morning?'_ or _'I don't want to speak to you right now, you selfish bastard.'_ and maybe even '_I hate you, and I always thought Nick was the stronger vocalist.'_

But she knows she doesn't mean any of this, and she only whispers his name. "Joe," She mumbles. "What's wrong?"

She hears him chuckle for a second on the other line, because it's so her to cut to the point with him. She stopped humoring him when they started dating, because it was clear that if they were going to work, she was going to have to put all JONAS fanclub and fansite owner duties aside and actually take him for who he was -- the messy, devious, confident and almost cocky boy that he gave to the media, and the gentle yet strong-willed, and creative man he showed to her.

It was like she was dating Peter Pan. He'd take her to gaming arcades and to children's science museums, they'd hold hands and walk to the nearest ice-cream shop so he could get his fix of sugar while she tried to figure out why he picked her.

She didn't understand it in the slightest, especially when he'd only broken up with Stella six months months prior. She didn't understand why Stella genuinely seemed thrilled that Macy had said yes to him either, but she figured that Stella was content now. Macy eventually figured that since Stella had gotten an invitation to intern at a fashion house in Milan after their senior year, and she felt like Macy could look after him. It didn't make sense to her at all, but she took it. It meant there was at least some reason as to why Stella was so cool with her being with Joe.

He sighed. "I can't sleep." He told her, his voice tired. "I didn't know what else to do, I'm sorry I woke you." She felt a slight smile fall onto her lips at his guilt, an emotion that Joe Lucas almost never felt unless he was truly sorry (again, a rarity.). "Did I wake you?" He asks quickly, and Macy imagines him with his glasses on, shifting uncomfortably on his too-large bed.

She shakes her head, but then realizes he can't see her. "Kind of, I was only drifting." She waited for him to respond, but he didn't. She sat there on her bed for a moment, staring at her mint colored walls that had once been filled with JONAS posters, now bare and lifeless. Her eyes water when she realizes that the silence isn't just awkward, but it may be permanent for them.

He only breathes softly, and she doesn't know it but his eyes are fixed on the polaroid in his hand. He shivers as he traces the outline of her face, smiles at the gleam in her eyes before he chokes out of cough. "I think I have a cold." He said finally, realizing they hadn't said anything in at least four minutes. "I...I don't know what to do."

Macy rolls her eyes to herself and falls back onto her pillows, realizing that this shift in their relationship is not permanent and if anything, she'll have her friend Joe back soon. "Drink some orange juice, and tomorrow I want you to go to the grocery store, and pick up a few cans or chicken soup, okay?"

He scoffs. "Chicken soup? It doesn't do anything."

"A negative attitude doesn't do anything, Joseph Adam." He pouts at the use of his full name and she knows he hates it, but she keeps going. "It's the placebo effect, if you think it's working, it probably will. And if it doesn't, you can kill me." Because you haven't already trampled on me enough, she thinks to herself.

Joe gulps into the phone. "I'll get some." He says dejectedly, thumbing the pale blue sheets that draped his body. "I'm sorry, Macy." Macy stares at her phone when she hears this, because she knows he doesn't mean about waking her.

She knows that Joe means he's sorry that he left without saying goodbye, and he's sorry he left a box of her things sitting on her parent's porch instead of facing her like the man he thought he was. She knows Joe is sorry for the countless nights of ice-cream and chick flicks Macy had endured in the weeks since his departure, he's sorry for the sudden makeover Stella has given her (dark black hair, a new wardrobe.), he's sorry for not being there when the first flakes of snow fell on the ground like he promised.

He has too much pride to beg for her forgiveness though, so he quickly adds on. "I'm sorry I woke you, Mace. I'll call you later, goodnight."

And just like that his apologies don't mean a thing, because Macy knows they'll never fix the damage he's caused already.

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Before anyone mentions it, I am working on updating _**Masquerades and Rose Parades**_. My plan is to post two chapters up sometime this week, and as of right now, I can say the only sure thing about it is that Kevin is _not_ Macy's love interest. However, Nick and Joe are fair game.

Anyways, this fic came to me as I was writing some new music and then randomly heard The Summer Set shuffle on my ipod, and I realized that this song would make a beautiful fic. I hope I do it justice, because TSS have been one of my favorite bands to jam to for a couple of years now. I've noticed a lack of Joe/Macy as opposed to Macy/theothertwo (ha.) and it makes me sad, because they would be so cute together! I hope you enjoy it, and I hope I can get some con-crit and nice reviews?

Anyways, I love you bunches!  
xoxo, April.


	2. Don't Do Me Like That

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing except the actual story.**

This is a** flashback**. Joe is still in California, and Macy is still sleepless in New Jersey.

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The first time Macy had gotten angry with him during their relationship was when he forgot to show up at her volleyball match. She spent the majority of the game preoccupied, wondering where he was and why he wasn't there. She served weakly and could barely keep up with her teammates while she scanned the bleachers, searching for his cropped hair and his neon clothes. She even accidentally crashed her fist into Jamie Erikson's face because she was so distracted, and the result was her being pulled off the court for the first time in her athletic life. Even more shockingly for the star athlete, it became the first time she ever walked out on a game.

She sped to the firehouse after she'd busted out of the locker room with her duffel bag, not even bothering to change into her street clothes. She drove with anger fueling her, snarling at the red lights that stalled her. She hated him then, for making her weak and making her quit. She wanted to shave his head and then hand him to Perez Hilton. She even contemplated calling their relationship off. She tried calling Stella, but she was out with Nick styling him for a trip to the White House.

Macy wonders now why she hadn't taken an interest in Nick before. He was smart, he was athletic, he wrote wonderful lyrics, and he could balance her erratic behavior. But as she pulled into the driveway of the JONAS compound, she figured out exactly why she didn't care for Nick the same way she cared for Joe. Because seeing Nick's car in the driveway wouldn't have made her blood boil as much as seeing his did.

She kicked open the door, not bothering to knock. Only his car was there anyways.

"Joseph!" She screeched, stomping into his room and finding him laying on his bed, the tv remote control in his hand and his other behind his head. His hair was messy as if he'd spent the day lounging in bed, and Macy felt the blood in her veins boiling all over again. "What the _hell_?!" She grabbed the remote from him and chucked it at the wall across from her, watching as it broke into a million different pieces, flying in all different directions.

To say her boyfriend was amused was an understatement. His face held a sly grin and he looked up at her, shrugging and wiggling his fingers in a greeting. "Hey." He said calmly, reaching for his smoothie (And Macy thinks: _He made a smoothie? I got DQ'ed from a game, and he made a fucking strawnana berry smoothie?!)_ and takes a slurp from the coiled electric blue crazy straw. "What're you doing here?"

She glares, and her tiny fists ball and then somehow she's sinking them into his chest, straddling his waist and pushing and shoving and pulling at his shirt. "You missed my game!" She screams, crying now and Joe is so confused that he just lets her hit him, because it doesn't hurt as much as when she's carrying a hockey stick and because he knows it doesn't hurt as much as what she's feeling right now. Macy knows she may be over-reacting, they've only been dating for seven months. Seven months, two weeks, three days, fifteen hours, thirty-two minutes and eighteen seconds at least.

"I didn't," Joe reasons, reaching for his calendar and dodging a shot to the shoulder. He finally gets ahold of it and scans through the dates, pointing at a random square. "See? Your game is next saturday. I didn't miss it." He stares up at her and expects her to apologize, but lowers his gaze when she keeps her glare hard and cold.

Macy huffs. "That's a _swim meet_! Today was my first volleyball match of the season, I told you about this one last week when we went to see that movie with Kevin!" Her eyes water again, because she thinks it shouldn't be that hard for a boyfriend to remember these sort of important dates to his girlfriend, and then she thinks that maybe he doesn't care and she is only there to watch him eat ice cream sundaes and listen to him whine about Nick. "I got disqualified because I ended up accidentally decking another girl in the face, Joe! On _my _team!"

He whistled appreciatively. "_Damn,_ my girl's a scrapper." He patted her head and she hissed, making him immediately withdraw his touch. "Sorry." She glares at him, with her big hazel eyes shining at him and he frowns, the guilt finally sinking into his skin. "Mace, I'm sorry," He says to her finally, pushing the hair back from her face, going back and doing it again with the strands that have stuck to her skin with tears. "I forgot, it won't happen again. I promise."

She shakes her head. "I don't want you to come anymore." Joe's shoulders jerk after the unexpected statement leaves her lips, and his eyes widen. She doesn't want me to come to her games? His head is spinning. No one has ever told him to not support them before. Even Nick asked for approval when he began writing songs for a solo venture. He realizes that this situation is really really bad and very serious, and that Macy is definitely not joking anymore.

He scrambles to change her mind. "You don't mean that." She doesn't. He knows she doesn't because her voice came out small, and he knows that when Macy is serious (like when she tells him to please not jump off the winding slide at the park, or to please not make faces at the gorillas at the zoo because _'Yes Joseph, they will attack you and I don't think I'd like blood staining my car.'_) she keeps her voice steady and confident. So he hugs her to him and he plants a kiss on her nose.

She scoffs. "Don't think you can charm your way out of this, Joe _of JONAS_." She narrows her eyes when she says** 'of JONAS'** because that phrase has been long retired and she has decided to only pull it out when she's really angry. "I don't want you to come and **distract** me at my events anymore."

He frowns. "But you come to all my events." And then he winces, realizing he's fallen into a trap.

"Exactly. Because I remember." She says to him, shaking her head. "Was it so hard to just write it down, Joe? I was really looking forward to going out for ice cream after."

_No_, it's not hard and he really has no excuse for not writing it down. So he shakes his head and responds to her finally. "It's not hard, Macy." He agrees. "And I'm sorry I forgot, but I don't want you to get so angry that you say things you don't mean." He places his palms on either side of her cheeks and she closes her eyes, feeling the warmth and blinking back more tears before realizing that this is a moment that could go one way or another.

They've been dating for a while now, and she figures that this is where she finds out if he really means it, or if she's in it alone. She shuts her eyes even tighter, and she tries to relive every single second she spent with him in private, all the hand holding and the late night phone calls and car rides, the time they snuck out to New York City just so he could show her his favorite venue they've played (not like she hadn't been there before, but never backstage.) She can feel him almost slipping away and she cries harder, because in that one split second of memories, she realizes that she loves him.

So Joe wipes her cheeks and pulls her into his chest, cradling her and letting her calm down before sighing. "I promise that I'm trying, and that I will never, _ever_ even be late to one of your events again. And if I am, you can call me_ Joe of JONAS_ all you want." He leans down tucks her head under his chin, bringing his fingers up to it and tickling the underside of her jaw lightly. "I wouldn't do that to you ever on purpose."

She grunts, because she's stubborn and she knows he didn't mean it. "Okay." She manages to peep out into his adam's apple, laying with him as their legs were intertwined in such a natural fashion to them that she could almost call it innocent. "I believe you."

He smiles at her and wipes her eyes again, taking his left hand and slipping the scrunchie off her hair, letting it fall down so he can play with it like he does every time he's within a two foot radius of her. "I love you, you know." He whispers finally, after a few seconds. "And I'm really happy that you didn't faint when I said that, 'cause a few months ago, you would've." He teased, poking her nose.

And Macy feels a smile play on her lips and then she reaches her right hand up, taking bits of his bangs and twirling them with her finger, amused. "I love you too." And then she smacked him on the forehead. "But don't ever be late to a game again."

He smirks. "Yes, ma'am."

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I had this written rather fast, so I decided to post it. And honestly guys, like what, 2 favorite story alerts and 5 story update alerts and not a single review? That's kind of lame, kids. Whatever.


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